"To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"

Captain Mohammed Dreyfus

(First published March 29, 2004). In 1893 Alfred Dreyfus, a captain of the French Army, was accused and tried for treason. In spite of evidence to the contrary, he was convicted and sent to prison in Devil’s Island for the rest of his life. The Dreyfus’ case unleashed a storm of anti-Semitism all over France (he was a Jew) and it was only through mighty efforts of people of good will all over France that he was finally exonerated of all charges in 1906 and then too, only after a change of government. He was re-instated in the army with the rank of Major and fought gallantly in WWI as Lieutenant Colonel.

In 2003 Captain James Yee, a Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, was placed in solitary confinement, in shackles for most of 76 days in a military brig where he was not even told what time of day or night it was so he could pray. No one was told where he was or what the charges were against him and the word “espionage” was widely used by various spokes people; his military lawyers were told to prepare for a death-penalty defense.

Even the school for Muslim clerics where Captain Yee got his credentials, the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, was vilified at all levels from the Senate on down as a hotbed of potential terrorists.

The charges, by the time they came, were reduced to “mishandling classified documents”. It later turned out that the documents were not even classified; they were lists of who was in which cell which is perfectly reasonable for a chaplain serving over 600 prisoners. Towards the end of this nightmare, the Army had added “Pornography on a government computer” and “Adultery” to the charges.

Months later, the Army mumbled something about dropping charges “but only because of the sensitivity of the information” and still held on to pornography and adultery as potential charges. At least the French went through a trial process with Captain Dreyfus even though it was a sham; The US Army did not even show that much courage. It seems that the Brave in the Army were sent to the battle zones while the moral cowards remained behind to polish the military’s tarnishing image.

Airman Ahmed Halabi served at Guantanamo Bay as a translator. He was also arrested at about the same time as Captain Yee. The charges against him were also espionage but strangely, included, “giving Baklava to the prisoners” and like Yee, “mishandling classified documents”.

Halabi, we are told, had subversive things the prosecution intends to use; items like a tract on the virtues of fasting, a drawing of a Mosque, the Arabic word for God (“Allah”) and a book on Jihad which in Islam does NOT mean “Holy War”.

By a bizarre twist of fate, members of the investigative staff against both men had one member each who was found to have also “mishandled classified documents”. They were merely re-assigned; they were neither Arab nor Muslim.

It appears that the Military, along with the rest of the government agencies (down to the Department of Agriculture), are in high gear to persecute people because they are Muslims.

When a Reservist signed up for the Military in 2002, her husband (of Palestinian descent) was “detained” indefinitely as she reported for training. She was followed everywhere at her training center and harassed with questions like, “ are you a spy?”. When she complained, the officers recommended she seek discharge from the Army. She was finally forced to quit but her husband remained in jail…still without charges.

In France, there was an almighty uproar against the racist charges and cover-ups by the French Government, its judicial system and its Army but it took thirteen years for justice to prevail there. It is baffling that in this country of ours, we do not seem to have a similar tide from people of goodwill. It must not take thirteen years for us to stand up to our own flaws in the pursuit of a better tomorrow for our children.

About

Blogger Jafar “Jeff” Siddiqui is an American Muslim living in WA.. USA.

He grew up in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (North-West Frontier) Province and has maintained close contacts in Pakistan.

He is a member of American Muslims of Puget Sound and is a human rights activist. He is involved with movements for inter-faith understanding. He has contributed articles for a textbook on terrorism, used by US law-enforcement agencies. He has also presented discussions and written article, on the Indo-Pakistan hostilities and their impact on Afghanistan.; he writes articles and gives lectures on Civil Rights, American Foreign Policy, on Islam, on current affairs including events in the Middle East, South and Central Asia. His works have been published in various print media. He also gives commentaries on radio and TV on these subjects.

Occasionally, I use the term “Jihad” in my articles, as the action needed to help make changes to better the ills of society. I often get feedback in which people worry more about my use of the word “Jihad”, than they do about the injustice about which I wrote; some wonder why I would use such a charged word among non-Muslims.

I intentionally use “Jihad”, because I want to jolt Muslims AND non-Muslims; “Jihad” cannot and must not become de-legitimized just because some people do not care to understand the true meaning of a sacred term and decide to associate it with terrible things.

“Jihad” springs from the Arabic “Jhd” which means “struggle”; “Jihad” means the act of struggle, “Mujahid” (Plural, Mujahideen) is someone who is doing “Jihad”.

At the core (the highest level), it is the duty of every Muslim to struggle against the basic negative predispositions we all have as humans…greed, envy, jealousy, rage, deceit, theft, murder etc.

At the next level, it is the duty of every Muslim to fight against the ills that beset Mankind…hunger, disease, homelessness, illiteracy, injustice, lack of water, pollution etc.,

At the least important level, Muslims are required to fight those who attack us AFTER we have exhausted all other efforts towards peaceful resolution. Even then, if peace is at hand, even at mid-battle, one has to stop and accept terms that are just and preserve the dignity of all parties.

I would imagine these are things that every person needs to subscribe to, not just Muslims.

Yet, there is a growing body of opinion in the non-Muslim West, that “Jihad” can ONLY be equated with murder and mayhem and thus, anyone using the word, can be presumed to be associated with supporting murder and mayhem.

I would suggest that supporters of the body of opinion that would like to taint “Jihad”, are people who consider themselves at “War!” with Islam, Muslims and Arabs. They may be a growing number of people, but they are wrong and it would be wrong for Muslims to lend credence to this opinion by shying away from “Jihad” in word, or in action.

Not so long ago, the Jewish organization ADL, launched an attack on some Muslim groups because the Muslims were wearing the Muslim Affirmation… “Shehada” (“There is no God but one God, and Mohammed is His prophet”) on their headbands and the ADL said that the Shehada stood for terrorism.

There are a growing number of bigots who state that Islam’s holy book, the Quran, is a symbol of evil and violence.

What should Muslims do? Abandon the Shehada and the Quran?

Some may say that we should just not use the Shehada on headbands, why not? Either the Affirmation (Shahada) is sacred or it is not; if it is sacred, then wherever it is used, as long as the use is not profane, is also sacred. If the Shehada is used in a profane manner, then the reflection is not upon the Shehada, but on the abuser.

Hitler took the Swastika as his symbol and today, it strikes fear and revulsion in the hearts of many, especially Jews. However, the Swastika is thousands of years old and among Hindus, the “Savas Tika” (“Peace sign”) is a holy symbol, it is used to adorn temples and used by Hindus at almost every occasion…it can be clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Should the Hindus be asked to abandon the Savas tika as a symbol?

If we dared to make such an absurd demand, we would be laughed off the stage.

The Star of David strikes fear and revulsion among millions of Palestinian men, women and children; should the Jews be asked to abandon the Star of David as their symbol?

I am betting millions of Bosnian Muslims shudder a little when they see a Crucifix, or the Christian Orthodox cross, because of the genocide of Bosnian Muslims by the Serbs and the Croats in the name of Christianity in the 1990s; should those symbols be cast aside?

The principle of “use it or lose it” is quite valid here. If we retreat for any reason, we are acknowledging that our sacred and holy terms or symbols are sometimes themselves, evil. Once we give that ground, then we can no longer use our Savas Tikas, our Crucifixes or our terms…THEN, the bad guys have truly won.

I believe that as reasoned and rational people, we cannot allow ourselves to fall victim to populist bigotries. We must look at what the symbol actually stands for, rather than associate it with the negative events that were tied to it by evil people; we must be able to differentiate between Nazi Swastikas on one hand, and symbols and words that are sacred, on the other.

Jihad; it is a sacred duty for every Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu…for every human being of good will.